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Or, as several of my colleagues have observed, it’s always about me, with a thin veneer of news from the trade applied, observing the pretense of modesty. So let’s proceed on that basis. The 2018 version of the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair was one of the best-run affairs in recent memory. Betty Fulton, Julie Roper, and the Commonwealth Promotion crew have the drill down pat, and enough of the 120-plus dealers from around the globe are familiar enough with the load-in and load-out routines that things went off without a hitch. Continue reading This Time It’s All About Me Read More

When Sophie gets a package in the mail, there's no return address on it. When she opens it, it has a gift and a motivational note in it. She didn't sign up for a Secret Santa this year. Who could be sending it?Goddess Fish Blog Tours and the author shared a copy of this book with me for review (thank you). It's on sale for only 99 cents during this tour, so you can grab a copy now.Sophie is a fun character to read about. She's determined to find out who is sending the gifts and looks over her classmates Read More

Though the James Bond films were originally based on the novels by Ian Fleming, more recent movies are written in the spirit of Fleming's work. After Fleming's death, other writers have been invited to take up the James Bond mantle. First was Kingsley Amis, who wrote one Bond novel under the pseudonym Robert Markham. John Gardner penned the next 14 novels, along with two film novelizations. Raymond Benson was the next author to continue the Bond legacy, writing from 1996 to 2003. Read More

Pistil Books & News opened its doors to the public for the first time on November 17, 1993. Our retail store was a former garage on Pike Street in an area that was in transition from "Auto Row" to retail and other businesses. Cafe Paradiso had opened up in the same block just a couple of years earlier. The Wild Rose, Seattle's only lesbian bar, anchored the corner, The Comet Tavern was nearby, and Ronnie's Upholstery occupied the basement of our building.Before we opened, Sean and a hired carpenter constructed our eight and ten foot high bookshelves. Friends helped us Read More

Gift Idea No.8 – Theatre Drama Take a look at our fine Selection of books on Theatre and Drama. William Shakespeare some of the titles include: All’s Well That Ends Well The Arden Shakespeare Methuen 1929 A play about a maid, Helena, who cures the King of France of a disease, then asks for Lord […]The post Gift Idea No. 8 – Theatre Drama appeared first on HC Books. Read More

NOTE: Please understand that this blog contains heavy subject matter and foul language. You’ve been warned. Censorship. A hated word in the bibliophile community. The very definition of the word seems off. Too… all encompassing. Censorship is defined as: “the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, […] Read More

The main work of a travel blog is to create interest among people to visit interesting places that they might have left out because of lack of knowledge about the place. All places are not popular among all people and they need to know more about the places in order to plan a tour to […] Read More

What do you give someone who seems to have everything? Nostalgia might just be the answer. For example, consider a National Geographic Magazine from your loved one’s birth month or from the month of a special anniversary. The articles are well researched and written, the illustrations are plentiful, there are lots of vintage advertisements included, […] Read More

My good friend Barb seemed to have an inordinate amount of fun assisting me with manning a booth at the Rochester Antiquarian Book Fair last September. She readily agreed to come along on a joint book hunting and genealogical research expedition to Burlington, Vermont this past weekend. Old Saratoga Books was signed up as an exhibitor at the Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association Spring Fair on Saturday, April 8th at the Burlington Hilton and Barb was interested in doing some family history research at the University of Vermont Library's Special Collections, so we made it an extended weekend.We started our journey Read More

It’s been a busy month, but we’ve now returned from New York, and things should be back to normal by the end of the week.This year we decided to do both California book fairs and follow those up with the two New York satellite-shadow shows. Gail and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results; we sold well into the low five figures at each of the first three book fairs and did very well in the fourth. For the first time in a long time, customers--to include average collectors--weren’t timid when it came to buying. What did they buy? Well, Read More

Today is my birthday. As such, through the magic of social media, dozens of friends and colleagues have taken a moment out of their day to acknowledge this, wish me well, and recommend that I enjoy myself in a number of ways. Most of these involve consuming good food, drinking alcoholic beverages, and relaxing, so […] Read More

Last August I visited Winchester, Virginia, to interview for a cataloging job with Lorne Bair Rare Books. When I left, I returned home to Brooklyn with two things: the promise of a job starting that fall, and reading Lorne had assigned me as preparation: Volume Oneof Donald Drew Egbert and Stow Person’s Socialism and American […] Read More

Occasionally, a book comes along that just makes you go “Huh?” I’ve got one like that now. It is the German languagePraktisches Kochbuch fr die Deutschen in Amerika, (second American edition) by HenrietteDavidis, published circa 1897 by Geo. Brumder … Continue reading → Read More

Readable collection of stories concerning all kinds of Green Men (and Women) from eighteen authors you may or may not know. Charles Vess’ decorations are enjoyable, Gregory McGuire has fun with Jack and the Giant. Delia Sherman’s view of Grand … Continue reading → Read More

Dont shout at me: its the title of a book! More specifically, I Could Pee on This and Other Poems by Cats, by Franceso Marciuliano. Make a note: you may want to give copies to cat-loving friends as gifts! While its not great literature, this little book is full of charm, from Marciulianos humor to some great cat photos to the poems themselves. Of the poems the author says in his introduction, by the time you ve finished reading this poetry anthology, youll not only completely understand everything your cat thinks and does but even applaud him for it. Maybe give Read More

I've been pretty quiet here on the blog lately but am launching back into posting with renewed enthusiasm and a revamped look. To celebrate I thought I'd start with a book giveaway. And so, I have a copy of Life After Life by Kate Atkinson to giveaway.What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? This is the premise for Kate Atkinson's enjoyable novel that spans two world wars and the aftermath of both.To enter the book giveaway just leave a comment here. And don't forget to increase your chances Read More

Lots going on here at the moment. I am working hard at my new teaching job and loving every minute of it, and I also had the great opportunity to attend and sell books the California International Antiquarian Book Fair … Continue reading → Read More

Most of this week's new releases fall into the Young Adult category but we've a few SF, Urban Fantasy, and Steampunk to spice it up. The Taken by Vicki Pettersson - Griffin Shaw used to be a PI, but that was back when gumshoes hoofed the streets . . . and he was still alive. Fifty years later, he's an angel, but that doesn't make him a saint. One small mistake has altered fate, and now he's been dumped back onto the mortal mudflat to collect another soulKatherine "Kit" Craig, a journalist whose latest investigation is about to get her clipped Read More